CHAPTER 22
[Screenshot]
ALLIUM
[garlic icon]
THERE ARE THREE PATHS.
YOU MUST CHOOSE ONE, AND SOLVE IT.
ONCE YOU PICK, THERE IS NO GOING BACK.
YOU ONLY GET ONE CHANCE TO PLAY, SO PROCEED WITH CAUTION.
IF YOU GET AN ANSWER WRONG, YOU WILL BE LOCKED OUT FOR 24 HOURS.
ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK…
PATH #1. JAY INGRAM—FOUND DEAD IN 2011, EXSANGUINATED
PATH #2. ROSEMARY BECK—FOUND DEAD in 1998, MULTIPLE FRACTURES
PATH #3. OLIVIA ROBERTSON—LEFT HOME IN 2006 AND PRESUMED DEAD
* * *
Google Hangouts
12:30 PM
Mina Murray
Oooh this is gonna be cool!
What, none of this “presumed dead” shit. I like my murder victims *actually* murdered, thank you very much.
Lucy Westenra
Lol Mina.
But also yes absolutely. I vote exsanguinated!
I mean, let's look at our podcast right?
Mina Murray
Oh shit also exsanguinated = vampires = ALLIUM, right?!
A. Van Helsing
It seems as if the very name of the application suggests an association with vampires, what with myths of garlic as repelling them. Perhaps it is giving us a clue as to which path we should take?
Mina Murray
Jinx, professor!
Arthur Quincey
!!!!
Lucy Westenra
OH
So this is why you two are great, M and VH—research team go?
Mina Murray
Yeah, I'm in. Oh, and Jay Ingram was the name circled in Harker’s notebook, so that must’ve been the path he chose too. So hopefully we’ll find him in the course of playing?
A. Van Helsing
I have never participated in a game like this before, but I do enjoy puzzles.
Arthur Quincey
You also enjoy being smart
I enjoy you being smart
Lucy Westenra
Yes, M!
(he told you what "exsanguinate" means huh?)
Arthur Quincey
I listen to your podcast!!
A. Van Helsing
Looking forward to working with you on this, Mina.
Lucy Westenra
(Arthur our SOs are gonna be bffs you know this right)
Arthur Quincey
I had a feeling ;)
Okay, so I clicked on path #1, Jay Ingram, and we have our first clue!
Lucy Westenra
…this is actually a pretty neat idea
Arthur Quincey
[screenshot]
CLUE #1
Image: The body of a young man lies draped over a grave. The man appears to be in his twenties. He is white, with blond hair, and is wearing jeans, black boots, and a button-down blue and black flannel shirt. The grave he is lying on appears old, and his body blocks most of the name. The picture appears to have been taken in the early morning or late evening.
ANSWER #1
In the box below, enter the family name that appears on the tomb to the right of the one Jay Ingram was left on to get the next clue.
Note: Clues will get harder as the game progresses…
Lucy Westenra
Oh wow.
I expected like a word search or something tbh.
Mina Murray
Thank goodness they don’t want us to identify *him*. That is the most generic white guy I’ve ever seen. #stockphotos.
Arthur Quincey
I'm telling you right now whoever designed this is…interesting. I mean let's not forget it only exists if you…use a dating app??
So who wants to open up Gravefinder.com? HA! I bet other players don't know about that. Although you can’t really see enough of the name to use it.
Mina Murray
Wait, wait, one sec.
Lucy! *growls* We do NOT need gravefinder to recognize that!
*vomits*
Lucy Westenra
What are you—oh!
Mina Murray
Dude, that's actually a little bit CREEPY, what are the chances?!?!
A. Van Helsing
I'm afraid I've missed a bit of in-group backstory.
Mina Murray
This is in the Lafayette Cemetery, which is basically where Lucy and I hung out all the time as kids. Then a few years ago Lucy asked me to meet her for drinks at Commander's Palace for quarter martinis. It was the day we…uh…got together. <3
Then we kinda sorta passed out in front of a tomb ahem after too much gin and when we woke up THAT is what we were staring at. I could never forget bc I had to lie there for like an hour before I could stand up without puking all over Lucy. Er. yeah.
Lucy Westenra
Ahh, that our romance blossomed from such humble soil.
Arthur Quincey
Okay, well, we have to find this grave but the clue asks for the name on the tomb to the right.
You ladies want to have a moment and revisit the scene of your gin-soaked sleepover?
Mina Murray
Go away.
Arthur Quincey
Kay fiiiiine just tell me.
Hey, VH, wanna take a walk? Cocktails are on me. And not on you afterward, because I can hold my liquor.
A. Van Helsing
Ah, claims of tenacity again. Good to know.
Arthur Quincey
I mean we don't have to go *right now*
Lucy Westenra
Look I hate to rush us but we do sort of need to get on with things. Like…I’m not sure if Harker is happy as a clam playing this game and he’s totally fine, or if something terrible happened to him BECAUSE he played this game.
Arthur Quincey
Okay, you’re right. I'll swing by the cemetery and let you know when I get the next clue.
Mina Murray
Okay, so you'll have to be the one to actually enter all the stuff in the app, but if you ever want to hand off your phone and have me do it, since I'm off in the mornings, let me know.
Arthur Quincey
I would rather die than hand over my phone, period.
Mina Murray
Wow ok.
Oh hang on. You know what i just remembered? Didn't we get a thing in the P.O. Box?
a charm or something, that was garlic?
Lucy Westenra
Oh yeah! I forgot about that. It was this little charm—two of them, one for me and one for Mina—they were shaped like cloves of garlic.
Arthur Quincey
…really? That's a weird coincidence.
Mina Murray
At the time I just assumed they were from one of those Anne Rice obsessos who liked the vampire killer episode from last season and sent us all that stuff. But they must’ve been from someone else who was playing Allium and *knew* we were talking about a game. Man, I wonder if they thought we were really stupid or just trying to get one over on ppl…
Lucy Westenra
I still have nightmares about that cross-stitch of the woman's neck with the blood spelling "Fang you very much” that we got last season.
Welp…I guess they’ll feel vindicated when we announce our mistake.
Mina Murray
W/e that cross-stitch was cool—though not as cool as those vampire teeth ice cube trays you gave me for Christmas :)
Lucy Westenra
Anyway, it’s kind of awesome that we received secret garlic jewelry. I'm going to wear it.
A. Van Helsing
Is this a…typical thing? Podcasters receiving gifts from listeners? It seems very extreme to me, but I'm not familiar with the conventions here.
Arthur Quincey
Are you saying no one sends you presents :(
Lucy Westenra
Oh, we get a lot of presents, actually, August. Our listeners—Shadowcasters!—are really into making little handmade things for us. Sometimes we give a shout-out on the air to the people who make them, too, in case they have Etsy stores or whatever.
A. Van Helsing
Ah, I see. Very interesting. So the culture of gift-giving is partly to express appreciation and enthusiasm, but there is also a dimension of exchange, wherein they receive free advertising in exchange for their gift. So that particular gift didn't signify, say, a threat from a game player, but merely a kind of, say, "hailing," in which one member of a secret society tips a hat to another member of that society in a way that only the involved parties know about? Fascinating, really.
Arthur Quincey
OMG you're going to write an article about this huh.
Lucy Westenra
Is that a thing?? Wow, that's interesting.
A. Van Helsing
Gift-giving is an integral part of the way cultures, subgroups, etc., function. The gesture of a gift might mean something quite different across cultures, and knowing the specifications of the group in question is crucial to understanding the meaning of the gesture, yes.
Arthur Quincey
He talks just like this in bed, you guys.
Lucy Westenra
I think Mina might be into it, if…you know.
Mina Murray
Lucy.
A. Van Helsing
Arthur is coming to terms with his deep-seated need to act out in order to draw attention from others. Please forgive him.
Lucy Westenra
I know *nothing* about that.
Arthur Quincey
It's part of my charm :D And I'll go get this clue knocked out so I'll be in touch with THE NEXT ONE.
Lucy Westenra
We'll do the last ten or twenty minutes of each podcast about the game, so if we could knock out three or four this week that'd be great. Meaning, Arthur, don't get any wrong.
Mina Murray
Yes, sounds great! just ping me when you have the next clue, a! uh, i mean, obviously you can do it yourself too, just if VH and i are gonna do some research stuff ya know.
Lucy Westenra
You guys will work great together, Min, I just know it.
Arthur Quincey
You can co-author the paper and everything.
Mina Murray
Yay, ok. I’m excited!
A. Van Helsing
I think we will work quite well together, Mina. I look forward to it.
Arthur Quincey
You are SO much nicer to her than you were to me, Van.
A. Van Helsing
I am just as you prefer it, Arthur.
Arthur Quincey
I can't lie about that ;)
Mina Murray
Ok thanks. Gotta run, guys. More soon.